A POINT

Forever ago a Basic School Instructor made a point that has stuck in my operating mechanism ever since... "Once you start an arrest follow through to completion.  If you do not intend to make the arrest, do not threaten to arrest.  Do not warn people that you are going to arrest them.  Tell them that they are under arrest and do it!"

This information has carried me through many confrontations with people who needed to be handled in different ways.  Some needed to be arrested and were arrested.  Some needed to vent their frustrations and were allowed to do so as long as they did not endanger anyone and cooled down in the process.  Some needed educating... They received education if they would listen... Some would not listen and were arrested because they would not learn and be peaceful when warned that they were violating the law.

This week as I was meditating upon the war in Iraq my thoughts followed a similar line of thinking. 

Iraq was warned that we would invade if certain things did not change.  They did not change to the satisfaction of our leaders of the time and we invaded... over four years and many lives and casualties ago.

I am not always a good diplomat... I probably would not have warned the Iraqi government if I had the evidence our leaders claimed to have.  I am not surprised that we found no weapons of mass destruction... They had plenty of time after the warning before we acted.  Were the weapons of mass destruction there?  I don't know but those we are supposed to trust said they had the evidence.

Now there are many voices demanding that we withdraw and leave the country to the Iraqis.  If we do that action we will leave the Iraqi citizens to the devices of the ones who are now trying to blow all of our troops out of the country.  Would or could the Iraqi military and police take over the defense and peace keeping ot the country?  If they could...  Why have they not done it???

If they have not done it because we will do it for them we should know that by now.   If they cannot do it and we left the country we would be handing them all over to lawlessness and chaos.

If we withdraw and they cannot take over defense and enforcement it would be like removing all homeland  Peace Keepers from  our own nation... How would our people fare if there were no Peace Keepers here in the homeland?  Knowing what I know from experience our citizens would not fare well for very long until the lawless element would try to take over.  One of two things would then happen... Either some citizens would awaken and become Peace Keepers... Or the lawless element would prevail and take over.  In either action it would not be a pleasant process to live through.

I am not advocating that we withdraw our troops immediately and leave the Iraqis to their own devices.  I do believe we should set standards for them to live up to... and a time line to check each requirement that we set...

Could we do this and be effective?  I don't know but I believe it would be worth a try.

Should we ever just pack up and leave that country?  Maybe... but not before we have put in more effort and more control than we are now exercising. 

If we are going to let them rule their own country we should set the process into motion and and give them the schedule for the process of their takeover and our withdrawal.
We have scheduled some things with good success.  Can we not continue to use that same process.

More troop power is only part of the answer.  Using that power to implement a process of Iraqi takeover would appear to be the answer.  I am not there on the field but I am sure that some of our field commanders are doing their very best to accomplish this.
We hear some good news about certain areas of Iraq coming under more peace and control because of some method implemented by an American Armed Forces Commander.  Could these same methods be expanded and used country-wide?

Why are we now having so much adverse activity in what has been called the Greenzone?

Forgive me but I do not think that we the people are ever hearing the truth of the actual situation in the country of Iraq involving our efforts, our troops and the goals of our government.  We started well... What happened to the quick victory?

I listen to the conversations around me and I hear the frustrations of many people.  We want our loved ones home.  Our loved ones who are there say they believe in what we are doing there... but there are some who have come home from Iraq and said they will not go back there and are speaking out against our troops being there.  The confusion is getting to our people. 

It is heartbreaking to see the statistics of the cost in lives and casualties.  It is even more devastating to be in the presence of the loved ones of those who have paid the costs in lost loved ones and horribly injured loved ones.  Did you ever hold a mother or a wife as she sobbed over the war death of a son or a husband that will not come back alive but in a box?  Have you dealt with the devastation of a family that receives a loved one back so mutilated that they may not ever live a life of peace and mobility again?

War is hell... And this war is no different from any other war in that aspect... War is hell!!!

The Iraq war is a very difficult situation...

Now at home in homeland security our casualty rate is far worse that it was this time last year.  Deaths and injuries are happening at an alarming rate at home among Peace Keepers this year.

The war against evil will always cost precious lives... There will be no life as we know it if Peace Keepers do not continually step up to their place in the line to tell evil that it shall not prevail.  Peace and safety cannot exist if Peace Keepers of every type are not willing to face the Danger... the Rejection... the Degradation... the Frustration... the Injury and the Death.

I humbly bow in deepest respect of and for each and every Peace Keeper of every type wherever you are.  My prayers for you are always for your peace, safety, provision and blessing.  I have not found such people as you in any other group of people with whom I have had close contact.  We owe all that we have and are to you and your predecessors as all of you have been the "Ministers of Rightness" in the service of the people and of my Commander-In-Chief to help peace prevail in His Creation.  My prayers also include that we be taught in ways that get better results as we make the daily effort to keep peace and safety.

"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!"  Always be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary.  Take the very best of care of you as you provide care of and for others.  Provide for the best of care possible for your spiritual welfare... It must be strong for you to be successful.

Call or write if I may be of any service to you.

As it has always been ... So it still is...

"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN."  Sun tzu

ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT, BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!

WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
[My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law and ethics...  it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil as possible in the process. 
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.]

I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
And I rejoice that you are there whether you are Christian or not...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers, 
VIRGINIA STATE POLICE ALUMNI,
RETIRED Police Officer, Certified Police Instructor,
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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